Jesus Is Still Healing
March 2011
Dear Friends,
I continue to be amazed by the many different people with incredible stories who come to Christ’s Body. Some of them I’ve seen for many years but if they don’t cause trouble or ask to speak with me I often don’t know anything about them. Sam was just such a person. He would come in occasionally for a meal. He was always sober with a big friendly smile but I knew nothing about him until the day he sat in on my Bible study.
We were looking at John 5 where Jesus healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Before ending as always I invited anyone to share whatever thoughts or comments they had on that day’s story. Sam raised his hand and began to speak. “When I was four years old in Egypt I had an open hole in my cheek that would not heal. I spent one week in the hospital but the doctors couldn’t make me better. My Grandmother heard of a Christian man in the mountains who could heal people. We borrowed a car and it was a long drive to this little village. My mom and Grandmother brought me to this old man sitting in front of his house. He prayed for Jesus Christ to heal me. He then carved and made a wooden cross out of green wood and put it around my neck. My mom was told to keep the cross around my neck and as the wood dried out the wound would close up. We spent the night there, drove back and in 3 days as the wood dried the wound healed. Our neighbors said it’s from Allah and my mom said no, it’s Jesus. My father was away working and he came back after I had the cross for 2 months. He doesn’t believe in God so he took the cross off and threw it away. By then the hole had closed completely but I still have one dark scar where it was”, then Sam points to his left cheek. There was dead silence in the room when Sam finished talking until Curt said, “Wow!!” then I told Sam that now I understood why he was always happy. Sam replied, “I know Jesus is my Savior. Ever since then my mom and I believed in Him. Muslims say he is just a good man, but I know only God could do what he did for me.”
I am so grateful that I am able to meet and get to know our Savior through friends like Sam. Thank you and may we all, in some way, experience the healing of Jesus.
Luke 6:19 “The people all tried to touch Jesus because power was coming from Him and healing them all.”
My Jewish Friend
February 2011
Dear Friends,
Christ’s Body has many helpers and supporters who help us care for our hurting friends. They each bring their own unique gifts and desires to serve others. One of these helpers is my dentist, Dr. Neil Dobro of First Avenue Dental. Neil has been my dentist for over 25 years. A combination of not caring for my teeth and what Neil calls the world’s worst case of Bruxism (teeth grinding) created a dental disaster in my mouth. Neil has over the years rebuilt my mouth with implants and crowns, in the process we have gotten to know and respect each other. I am an Evangelical follower of Jesus and Neil is a practicing Orthodox Jew. I have been an honored guest at his synagogue and he has honored me by coming to hear me preach the gospel at Christ’s Body. When I have questions about the meaning of old testament passages, Neil’s knowledge of Hebrew is very helpful. He has donated his time to serve our Christ’s Body Christmas dinner. He has also given us countless toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The toothbrushes and toothpaste help but most of our clients need real time help from a real dentist. Neil recognized this and generously offered to start seeing those in greatest need several years ago. Since then he has freely given hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in free dental care. Without Neil’s attention my friends would have just had to continue living with infected painful teeth. There are some dental clinics in Denver but they are difficult to get into and have long waiting lists.
I am very grateful to Neil for giving his time. Our hurting friends are also grateful but what they most appreciate is the care and respect they receive from everyone at First Avenue Dental. First of all they walk into a very nice Cherry Creek dental office where, no matter how they look they are greeted with a smile and offered tea, coffee or juice. The entire staff listens to and cares for them in a way that values and honors them.
I know our God is pleased when the poor and hurting are cared for. Thank you Neil and all your staff and may God continue to bless you!
Deuteronomy 15:10 “Give generously to the poor and do so without a grudging heart,
then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in every thing you put your hand to.”
God Still Speaks To Us
January 2011
Dear Friends,
Sometimes in a still small voice, sometimes in a very strong rebuke, sometimes through others if we listen for it we can hear God’s voice. Here are some recent examples from Christ’s Body.
It was a busy time at the counter. I was in full Martha mode (Luke 10:38-42) focused on tasks and impatient with people. One of our homeless friends said to me, “Pastor John, I need to see you.” I gave him a short rude answer, “ No, I don’t have any bus tokens.” With a hurt look on his face he said “No, I came to give you my tithe” and pressed two twenties and one five into my hand. Suddenly I heard God’s loud voice and it wasn’t a voice of praise.
One of our respite patients, Robert, lived a life full of shame and guilt as a registered sex offender. Deb Butte, our respite care counselor, visited him in the hospice a few days before his death from cancer. Deb sat and prayed by his bed, after a few moments Robert opened his eyes and softly whispered, “I heard him Deb, God is love.”
A couple has been faithful volunteers at Christ’s Body and also unemployed for the past year. Despite many efforts and prayers God so far has still not provided a job. With a small child they had to make some difficult financial decisions. They put their home up for sale and when it sold they moved into an RV on their parent’s lot. When the sale closed they gave Christ’s Body a $650 check because God told them to tithe on the sale. I stammered a thank you and their reply was God had given them complete peace, they were trusting in Him and no longer anxious about the future.
It was a cold morning just before Christmas and one of our resident staff, Hal Bell, came to tell me what had happened to him. “God woke me up at 4:00 am this morning. He told me to get up and get dressed. I grumbled but got up and left my room. When I started down the hall, He told me to go the other way down by the respite stairs. I went down the stairs, outside to the sidewalk and literally bumped into Birdie. She was crying and I said Birdie what’s the matter? Through her tears she told me she was alone because Wazee, her husband, was in detox and all their stuff was taken. I brought her inside and gave her blankets to make it thru the night.“ How much does God love Birdie?
When we hear God’s voice how can we know it’s him? If what you’re hearing does not line up with the heart of God as stated in His Word, you are emphatically NOT hearing from God. If it does then the question is, how much do you trust Him? Listen to that voice and then obey. He will bless you and amaze you.
John 15:14 Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
A Funeral and A Wedding
December 2010
Dear Friends,
Last month I was honored one Sunday to conduct a memorial service for Tony Martinez and the next Sunday marry Gerald and Stephanie Wilganowski here at Christ’s Body. Let me share with you a little of their separate journeys towards Jesus.
I wrote about our special friend, Tony, in last March’s newsletter. He had been hit by a taxi, God spared his life and he wrote to me from the hospital. Here are some excerpts from his letters. “Pray for me in the church Sunday. I was hit by a taxi. Let the church know I’m OK. I’m crying because I miss church. I am getting better because I prayed to the Lord.” After visiting Tony he then sent me this letter. “John, I love volunteering at 850 Lincoln church. Tell everyone I am sorry that the devil tried to kill me by a taxi in December. You know what saved me is I had a small Bible I read every day in my back pocket. That’s why I am here today and I walk with Christ. John 3:16 and Acts 4:12, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, Amen. Tony Martinez.
Tony recovered completely from this accident and returned to help us clean. A few months later he started experiencing severe abdominal pain. After admitting him to the hospital and many tests, he was found to have inoperable cancer. For several months, Pastor Bruce and I visited Tony in hospice as he got thinner and thinner. He always asked Pastor Bruce to sing hymns to him and he wanted both of us to read something from the Bible. Tony knew he was going home to Jesus but it was still scary at times going through that process. As he neared the end we thanked God that he was not in much pain and prayed the Lord would take him soon. It’s very sad watching a friend die but it’s an honor to be involved in a special friend like Tony’s life and death.
At the same time we are praying over Tony’s leaving this world, Gerald and Stephanie came to ask me to marry them. I’ve known Gerald for years as he struggled with his addiction to crystal meth. I rejoiced with him as he returned to God and Jesus started the process of freeing him from bondage to this horrible drug. Stephanie was dealing with an earlier failed marriage and its residue of drugs, pain and shame. I thanked God for his healing in both their lives as they have now both been clean of drugs for several years. As I spent time counseling them for marriage I was encouraged by their trust in Jesus and commitment together to leaving the mistakes of their past in His merciful hands. They need each other but they also both know they need Jesus even more. On their wedding day Gerald told me, “Pastor John, I never lost hope because I always remembered 6 years ago when you told me you believed that with God’s help I could one day get clean of drugs. Thank you for not giving up on me.” What a blessed and encouraging time it was for all of us when these two new lives in Christ were united in marriage.
At this time of celebrating Christmas we are especially thankful for all of you. You (our supporters, friends and volunteers) are collectively the body of Christ bringing His light and hope to a dark and desperate world.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Two Respite Stories
November 2010
Dear Friends,
Deb Butte does a quarterly report to Mile-High United Way on our respite care ministry. Here are just 2 stories from this Quarters’ report..
Since we are a small program, with only 5 beds, the guests that stay at Christ’s Body Respite get a lot of attention and help. Because of this, many of our clients come to trust, work hard with us and then stay in touch with us once they are discharged. One such client “Terry,” turned to us in July because he was notified that his housing voucher would be terminated in August because of a police charge the previous year. He turned to his housing case-manager and his mental-health case-worker for help, but both had client loads that are so full they were unable to get back to him and do the work that needed to be done in time. So he turned to us. We were able to help him with the necessary paper work and attend a hearing with him in order to renew his voucher. He would have had to leave August 1st but instead has been given another years lease. However, this gentleman has been given two months to live. We are currently walking through the death process with him as he approaches the end of his life.
A current respite care client William, is a 43 year old truck driver. Last winter he was involved in an accident where his license was revoked. In order to get it reinstated he has to pay a $1200 fine. Prior to the accident he lived in his truck, but that was no longer an option so he began staying at the overnight shelters and doing day labor each day to begin saving money to be able to pay his fine. Unfortunately however, while walking the streets one night, William fell into a ditch and shattered his leg leaving him in need of surgery and unable to do day labor.
Thankfully William came to our respite care to begin healing. We talked about his accident, his truck driving career and his desire to become self-sufficient again. He realized that his career made it hard for him to kick his Meth habit since he needed to stay awake for long periods of time. William desperately wanted away from that addiction. After realizing that his leg was going to take months to heal we began brainstorming other ways to meet his goals.
Christ’s Body has helped William pay to apply and begin attending a technical school where he can work on trucks rather than drive them. He thinks this will provide a more stable life-style for him, as he gets older and one that will support healthy living apart from drugs. William has been attending class daily from 7 am to noon and studies in the evening. We are currently helping him pursue an internship in the afternoons so that he can get some “on the job” training to help him when he graduates in a year and a half.
Deb and I are so thankful to all our faithful supporters who make it possible for us in very practical ways to surround folks like “Terry” and William with the love of Christ.
Psalm 40:17 I am poor and needy: may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer.
